5 Ways to Inexpensively Get High-End Beauty Products

Beauty products can get pricey, especially when you start Googling things like “Best Full Coverage Foundation” or “Best Shampoo For Colored Hair”. And even when you find them on sale, they’re still expensive AND you don’t know if it will be what you want or not.
Well, I have found some ways to get high-end makeup, skincare, and hair care for lower prices. Some may seem pretty obvious, but these are the things I personally do to get more for less.

1. Reward Programs

If you are a regular Sephora or Ulta customer, you know about their reward programs.
When you buy anything at Ulta, you receive Ultamate Reward Points, and you are able to redeem those points for discounts. For example, if you have 100 points, you can redeem them for $3.00 off any product. This goes all the way up to 2,000 points = $125 off any product. Ulta Rewards also gives you free high end samples on your birthday (I’ve gotten lots of Tarte products from them), and I think you can ask for samples from them as well, though I’ve never done that.

Sephora and Ulta’s reward programs are similar in that you get a point for each dollar you spend, but different in what you receive. You can reach different levels (e.g. Beauty Insider, VIB, Rouge) depending on how much money you spend, and you get different rewards for each. At Ulta, you get discounts after getting so many points, but at Sephora, you get “rewards” for different point amounts. Smaller amounts can get you samples (I’ve gotten loads) and larger amounts can get you kits, palettes, and even jackets. You can also get samples every time you purchase something from sephora. Online, you can get up to three free samples with your purchase. I always like getting these, because it helps you decide if you like something without forking over $40 for it.

2. Sales/Coupons

I know this one sounds pretty obvious, but when it comes to makeup, we like to get it as soon as it comes out. If you wait just a bit, it will go on sale, and/or you can find coupons. Most of this is about patience and not purchasing a product right when it comes out. I definitely think Ulta has more/better sales, which may also be because they don’t carry the same things as Sephora, but I would suggest hitting them up first for sales and coupons (plus, they send you all this in e-mails and in ads to your mailbox).

3.Subscription Boxes

This is my favorite way to try out great products. You get samples from awesome brands for a small price. Sephora and Ipsy are monthly boxes for $10, and Target is a monthly box in which you can see what you will get, and you decide to purchase it each month for $7. Walmart even has a beauty box, and you get a box four times a year for each season, for only $5. A lot of the samples I have gotten have lasted me quite a while, and has allowed me to use awesome products that I regularly wouldn’t buy, because of their prices (e.g. Tarte, Make Up For Ever, Laura Mercier, Stila, Kat Von D).
This is an inexpensive way to try out makeup, skincare, haircare, etc., from reputable brands. I have posted many reviews of these boxes, that you should definitely check out if you want more information.

4. Influenster

I don’t know how/why I didn’t know about Influenster sooner! It was incredibly easy to begin, as you just plug in your info and social media, review some item you have at home, and then they start to send you free products to test and review. I’ve gotten three boxes in the 5 months that I have belonged to the site. My first box was worth over $70, and I use all of those products on a regular basis.

Although you can’t pick the exact products you get, it helps when you review things in the categories you want. For example, I don’t review home stuff as much as beauty products, because I prefer getting beauty Voxboxes. I have been lucky enough to get skin care, makeup, and hair products, and I absolutely recommend using this site.

5. Stores You Wouldn’t Expect

This is one of my favorite ways to get inexpensive products! Most of the time, if we want high-end beauty products, we go to Sephora or Ulta, but those aren’t the only places you should look. In fact, there are some stores you should check out first. Personally, I have found awesome marked down items at TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, Marshalls, and Nordstrom Rack. It’s awesome to get Urban Decay palettes, Kat Von D eyeliner, and MAC lipstick for half the price! I’ve even started checking those places first, because I have found exactly what I was going to buy at Ulta for much less.

Leave a comment if you know of any other ways to get inexpensive beauty products! I hope this list helped you find some new ways to get great items without overspending.

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Published by Amanda Jane

My name is Amanda, and I am originally from Southwestern Virginia. I'm technically a millennial, but I don't know enough of the lingo. I love cats, true crime, and the color black.
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